Texas Task Force 1 Ernesto update

9/1/2006 12:00 AM

Urban search and rescue team Texas Task Force 1 remains on deployment today as part of FEMA's response to now Tropical Depression Ernesto. Texas Task Force 1 was one of 12 teams under FEMA’s National Urban Search and Rescue Response System originally activated for Ernesto.

Texas Task Force 1's 80-member team has been staged in Atlanta throughout the week in the event search and rescue assistance was needed by state and local officials in Florida. Sponsored by the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), the Task Force has remained in Atlanta as Ernesto moves up the Atlantic coastline and into the Carolinas and Virginia.

Additionally, five Texas Task Force 1 members have been in Jacksonville, Fla, this week as part of a FEMA Incident Support Team. Their operations are concluding today as the storm weakens and continues its northward track.